Lipid balance remodelling by human positive-strand RNA viruses and the contribution of lysosomes

A marked reorganization of internal membranes occurs in the cytoplasm of cells infected by single stranded positive-sense RNA viruses. Most cell compartments change their asset to provide lipids for membrane rearrangement into replication organelles, where to concentrate viral proteins and enzymes while hiding from pathogen pattern recognition molecules. Because the endoplasmic reticulum is a central hub for lipid metabolism, when viruses hijack the organelle to form their replication organelles, a cascade of events change the intracellular environment. This results in a marked increase in lipid consumption, both by lipolysis and lipophagy of lipid droplets. In addition, lipids are used to produce energy for viral replication. At the same time, inflammation is started by signalling lipids, where lysosomal processing plays a relevant role. This review is aimed at providing an overview on what takes place after human class IV viruses have released their genome into the host cell and the consequences on lipid metabolism, including lysosomes. •The balance different lipid species is of great importance in regulating viral replication, autophagy, and inflammation.•As other metabolic pathways, it is hijacked during replication of pathogens, above all ss+RNA viruses.•Viral replication and intrinsic cell defences upregulate lipid metabolism and, in sync, the production of signalling lipids.•We review the most recent findings in the field, highlighting the role of lysosomes during infection by viruses.